DOT seeks public input in transportation planning

ELLSWORTH – Maine’s transportation chief, responding to a more demanding public, has decided it’s time to increase the number of people involved in deciding how and where to spend highway money – and why.

The Maine Department of Transportation is now entering into contracts with regional planning organizations, which will take over the grassroots effort to get public opinion and input on the state’s transportation needs, DOT Commissioner David Cole said Thursday.

The so-called RPOs hope to have preliminary work done by next spring identifying the public’s priorities for new transportation spending.

Although the new public outreach program will still only be advisory to the department, Cole said Mainers’ opinions will have a lot of weight with DOT.

“This is about public involvement,” Cole said, and not about shifting state duties to regional agencies.

“The rural areas [in particular] want more input in the process,” Cole said, “so we want to take our public participation process to a higher level.”

The new approach will take into consideration economic development and land use issues so that DOT will understand the special needs of the divergent regions of the state, Cole said.

Developing a new 20-year strategy for Maine’s transportation needs must include an analysis of trends in each region, whether driven by tourism, industry, large new development or land use concerns, he said.

The planning commission approach will eliminate the Regional Transportation Advisory Committees in Maine, Cole said. Although the volunteer panels were valuable in setting transportation priorities for various regions, there were not enough people involved.

More and more, Maine people want to have a say in what happens in their communities and regions, Cole said.

DOT Deputy Commissioner Greg Nadeau, an adviser to former Gov. Angus King for eight years, said Thursday that Cole’s new approach will not only get more average Mainers involved in setting transportation priorities, but also “we think we can do it more efficiently and effectively.”

The department is still fine-tuning contracts with the regional planning agencies. Although one agency will be tapped in each of Maine’s six economic regions, Cole said all RPOs in each region will be expected to work together.

The first order of business is to get a draft report of regional priorities by next spring, to be used in a new 20-year transportation plan.

However, Cole said DOT is not interested in “rehashing old ground” by analyzing priorities that are firmly set in different areas of the state.

He said the states of Vermont, Pennsylvania and Arizona have adopted the new model of seeking additional public input.

“The world today necessitates” more public involvement, Cold said, “and I think we’ll be better for it.”

Jim Fischer, transportation planner for the Hancock County Planning Commission, told municipal officials this week that the new approach “is a little unusual, but it makes sense in communities where transportation is essential to economic development.”

The new program hasn’t been fully developed yet, according to Cole. He plans to post information on the department’s Web site, send out press releases and encourage citizen forums throughout Maine to make sure anyone who has something to say will be heard.